2000-2001

Professor Named Fellow of Society of Fire Protection Engineers

WORCESTER, Mass. -- Robert G. Zalosh of Wellesley, Mass., professor
of fire protection engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, has
been elected a Fellow of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers.

The honor recognizes Zalosh's achievement in the field of fire
protection engineering, a discipline WPI has played a major role in
defining and advancing for more than two decades.

Zalosh's research focuses on fire and explosion hazards and
protection systems. His expertise has been sought out as part of major
investigations of such complex fire and explosion incidents as the
Three Mile Island nuclear power plant hydrogen explosion, the TWA
Flight 800 explosion and crash and the Malden Mills fire in December
1995.

He has served on a number of distinguished advisory panels,
including the National Research Council Committee on Hydrogen
Combustion, the U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen Technical Advisory
Panel and the Federal Aviation Administration panel to review aircraft
fuel flammability.

"While Bob is a learned scholar at the highest levels of fire
protection engineering theory, he is equally proficient in the
nuts-and-bolts engineering arena," notes David A. Lucht, director of
WPI's Center for Firesafety Studies. "This combined capability in
theory and practice sets him apart from many others in the
profession. He is the consummate professional-uncompromising in
professional ethic and technical work quality-which gains him enormous
respect by his peers, colleagues and students alike."

Fellow members of the profession describe Zalosh as generous with
his energy and encouragement. Notes David R. Bouchard of Fire
Consulting Associates Inc. in Providence, R.I., "Some individuals of
his stature can be aloof, but Bob is not. He is always ready to offer
a helping hand in the field or clarify an issue at a meeting to make
your presentation more understandable."

A member of the SFPE since 1991, Zalosh wrote the explosion
protection chapter of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers
Handbook, is working on a textbook on industrial fire protection, and
has served on the editorial review board of the journal Fire
Technology.

In 1979, he helped develop the graduate program in fire protection
engineering at WPI, the first of its kind in the United States, and
has been closely involved with the program since then. He served as an
adjunct professor at WPI while doing fire and explosion research at
Factory Mutual Research Corp. in Norwood, Mass., and joined the
faculty full time in 1990. Since then, he has conducted research on a
variety of explosion hazards, including fuel storage tanks in aircraft
and tanker ships and compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicle fuel
systems.

With its worldwide reputation, WPI's fire protection engineering
program has set the standard for graduate education in the
discipline. Students, including distance learners from around the
globe, study such topics as industrial fire protection, sprinkler
systems, detection and alarm systems, and fire chemistry. Research
pursuits cover a wide range, including computer fire modeling, fire
performance of structural systems, fire growth and smoke
characterization, fire safety design methods and explosion
phenomena.

"Through their innovative, interdisciplinary efforts, WPI faculty,
students and graduates are making valuable strides in fire protection
knowledge and helping to make the world a safer place," Lucht
says.

Founded in 1865 and known for its unique, outcomes-oriented
approach to education, WPI offers undergraduate and graduate programs
in engineering, science, the liberal arts and the management of
technology.